Murder of Kiaya Campbell

Murder of Kiaya Campbell
Location	Thornton, Colorado, U.S
Date	June 7, 2017
Attack type	Child murder by blunt force trauma, beating
Weapon	Metal pipe
Victim	Kiaya Mae Campbell
Perpetrator	Aidan Demmie Zellmer
Motive	Inconclusive
Verdict	Pleaded guilty
Convictions	First-degree murder
Charges	First-degree murder 3x Sexual Assault (charges dismissed) 2x Felony murder (charges dismissed)
Judge	Priscilla Loew
Sentence	Life imprisonment with possibility of parole in 40 years.

Kiaya Mae Campbell (August 22, 2006 – June 8, 2017) was an American 10-year-old girl living in Thornton, Colorado. She was reported missing on June 7, 2017 and on June 8, 2017, her naked body was found by a local in a drainage ditch near 128th Avenue between Jasmine Street and Jasmine Court. Authorities determined that she was sexually assaulted and murdered by her 15-year-old stepbrother, Aidan Demmie Zellmer. Her death was caused by blunt force trauma.

Colorado prosecutors indicted Aidan Zellmer on charges of first degree murder, felony murder, and sexual assault. Two years later, Zellmer pleaded guilty to first degree murder of Kiaya and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years.

Background

Victim

Kiaya Mae Campbell was born on August 22, 2006 in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, she was the daughter of Jacoby Campbell and Chantel Campbell, her brother was Alexander Campbell. She was a 2017 fifth grade graduate of Monarch Montessori elementary school.

Perpetrator

Aidan Demmie Zellmer was formerly attending Horizon High School in Thornton, he was in the ninth grade. He also had a twin brother, and his father, Demmie Joseph Olvera. Demmie Olvera was very religious and allegedly was wearing a crucifix on a chain around his neck. Before going into court, he shouted "Jesus" and waved crucifix in front of the news media. He also read Bible in courtroom while waiting for his son to appear for the detention hearing.

Zellmer revealed to the police that he had mental health problems and that his life had been "pretty bad" during their interrogation. Records from social services revealed that he also had a history of "aggression and violent outbursts", and that he has been diagnosed with ADHD and Major depressive disorder as per the interrogation footage uploaded by the YouTube channel "Explore With Us". Currently, not much is known about Aidan Demmie Zellmer's personal life.

Investigation

Disappearance

On night of June 7, 2017, at approximately 11:50 PM a woman named Katie Zellmer called the Thornton Police Department to report that her 15-year-old son Aidan Demmie Zellmer, and 10-year-old stepdaughter Kiaya Campbell had left their house in Thornton around 7:30 PM to go to shopping and hadn't returned since 9:00 PM. She said that neither of them had a phone and that they had been missing for about five hours.

Katie Zellmer, who lived with Kiaya's father as his girlfriend and the mother of Aidan, had tried to find them by driving around the neighborhood but was unsuccessful.

The police began searching for the two and sent out an Amber alert thorough the city of Thornton. More than 20 police departments and hundreds of volunteers searched for them. During the search Campbell's biological father also assisted with the search, and found Aidan Zellmer walking alone on Fairfax Street. After being questioned, Aidan claimed to have lost Kiaya while they were walking back home during a rainstorm. He also claimed that he was trying to find her in the woods but was unsuccessful. Later, some neighbors have disputed that there was a rainstorm in the area that night.

The affidavit states that Zellmer later rode with police to locations west of their residence and report to them that they had walked up and down Colorado Boulevard. However, they were seen walking somewhere else by security cameras to the northeast.

Interrogation

The following evening, Aidan was taken into custody. During his police interrogation, Zellmer stated that he had accidently damaged some of Campbell's Pokemon cards so they had attempted to steal Pokémon cards from the nearby store to replace them but were unsuccessful since the cards were locked behind a counter. He claimed that they stole three bags of candy instead before they left for home where he grabbed a backpack with water bottles, and went to another store. It began to rain as they were making their way to the second store, so they turned onto a walking path east of Colorado Boulevard to find shelter.

As they waited for the rain to stop, Zellmer said they got into an argument. Campbell reportedly wanted to go home, while Zellmer wanted to wait it out in the store. After a brief argument, they agreed to remain in the store. They began walking home after the rain stopped. Zellmer turned around as they were walking, but Campbell was nowhere to be seen. After forty-five minutes of searching, he was still unable to locate her and decided to go home.

As police talked with Zellmer, they said that his story did not add up, but he insisted that he was not lying. He denied doing anything to Campbell when questioned about it. Police were able to obtain surveillance footage from a store that contradicted Zellmer's story. At 8:50 PM, a CCTV camera recorded Aidan and Kiaya walking through a back parking lot. This was Kiaya's last known sighting before she disappeared. Aidan was spotted coming back without her just forty minutes later.

During his interrogation, Campbell's partially naked body was found by a resident in a greenbelt area just a mile away from where Aidan Zellmer claimed she had disappeared. The body was lying face down, nude from the waist down, her clothing was in the middle of her thighs. After extensive investigation, authorities officially announced that Kiaya’s death was a homicide and that she had been beaten to death with a metal pipe. According to Campbell's autopsy by Adams County Coroner's Office, she had died from blunt force trauma to the head which caused skull fractures. According to a forensic pathologist, she suffered at least five head injuries and was dragged into a ditch, where she died. She had other wounds, including some defensive wounds. There was also evidence that she had been sexually assaulted.

Arrest

When police told Zellmer during the interrogation that they had found Campbell's body, he started crying and became agitated. He said that he didn't hurt her but left her because she was being "annoying". A decision was made by Katie and Aidan that they would not continue interrogation with police. After the interrogation ended, both Zellmer and his mother consented for him to have a sexual assault examination in St. Anthony's Hospital. Zellmer's mother requested that he be temporarily placed with the Department of Human Services. For testing, Zellmer's shoes and clothes were gathered by investigators. Both of his shoes had blood on them, according to a presumptive serological test. Later, following evidence collection, testing and an autopsy, investigators linked the murder to Zellmer and gave police enough evidence to arrest him and officially charge him with 1st degree murder and Sexual assault. Zellmer was also charged with two counts of felony murder, and two counts of felony sexual assault on a child. He was transported to the Adams County Juvenile Detention Center to await his trial.

Confession

At the Adams County Juvenile Detention Center, Zellmer's cellmate came forward a month later and requested to speak with police. According to him, Aidan Zellmer admitted to killing his stepsister. He said Zellmer told him that he had dragged her body to the river after beating her to death with a metal object until her skull cracked. Additionally, Zellmer claimed that while he was killing her, he "blacked out" and had "a lot on his mind" and was unaware of what was happening. His cellmate claims that Zellmer told him that he had been preparing to flee his house after murdering Kiaya, but his plan was thwarted when police showed up to interrogate him.

Trial

Initially Demmie Zellmer was being sentenced as a juvenile but later, the 17th Judicial District district attorney's office, Adams County Juvenile Court Judge Priscilla Loew ruled that the case be moved to adult court following a four-day court hearing on January 23, 2018.

He wanted to do this… His actions certainly dictate that he intended to kill her and it took quite an effort to do it.

— District Attorney Dave Young

On December 16, 2019 trial, Aidan Demmie Zellmer plead guilty to killing 10-year-old Kiaya Campbell and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. Although Zellmer was initially facing sexual assault charges and other murder charges, those were dropped as part of the plea deal offered by prosecuting attorney Dave Young, which also allowed him to participate in a rehabilitation program for young adults convicted of murder. Sexual offenders are not eligible for the program. His plea deal specifies that he will remain in a juvenile detention center until he turns 18 and then serve a prison sentence. Zellmer will be eligible for parole when he turns 56. But with reductions of time linked to good behavior, he could be released from prison when he turns 46.